What is FedRAMP?

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) is a government organization that was established in 2011. The main goal of FedRAMP is to reduce costs by encouraging the adoption of cheaper cloud services by government agencies. It also seeks to ensure proper security protocols for sensitive information through a standardized approach and security best practices such as continuous monitoring for cloud products and services.

FedRAMP is comprised of two divisions. The Joint Authorization Board (JAB) makes all the primary decisions and includes CIOs from the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, and General Services Administration. The Program Management Office (PMO) is a division of GSA and its primary purpose is to support federal agencies and cloud service providers through the FedRAMP authorization process.